Engagements and Promises
by sonofabittch
Summary: Loki has had his sights set on Esther for a long time now, but she has had her sights set on freedom. Begins pre-thor.
1. Chapter 1

_**Chapter One**_

Esther fidgeted with the ring on her hand as she watched the party continue, people dancing joyfully, everyone seemed so happy. Everyone but the guests of honor. Esther despised parties, they were loud, and hot and someone somehow always managed to spill something on her. It was like a game to see how long she could avoid the drunken men stumbling with their drinks before one of them ruined her dress. The only thing she hated more than these parties, was the second son of Odin.

He was a brash, immature, ungrateful, brat whom she couldn't stand being in the same vicinity as, and now she was going to be forced to call this man, even though he acted more like a boy, her husband. She remembered pitying the poor soul that would have to marry Loki when she was younger. Even when he was a boy he was immature for his age, always playing tricks, and lying, and she had never imagined that she would be the one that was forced into this unholy bond.

Scanning the room she found that she could not even locate the young prince. There were so many many bodies in that room, the space had seemed so large before, but it now felt as though the walls were closing in. After another minute or so she snuck outside before she could suffocate in that horribly cramped space. Once on the balcony she removed her shoes, and wedged one of her heels under the door so she wouldn't be disturbed.

_Perhaps I can just remain out here forever,_ she mused, then sighed knowing eventually someone would come looking for her, and the drop from the balcony was only enough to break a leg or two. It would take a lot more than that to stop this wedding. Everyone was very set on the prince settling down, supposedly a family would calm his wicked demeanor. Esther doubted that, as since she had arrived at the castle she had been treated with nothing but contempt by Loki, perhaps they were meant to be sweet, but she could see right through him, she'd always had an astounding ability to read people, and she could feel every passively aggressive word that came from his lips.

"You know, it's rude to leave one's own party." A silky voice sounded from behind her. She whipped around surprised, and unprepared by the intrusion of her thoughts. Glancing down at Loki's hand she found he held her left shoe. "The trick is to put it between the two doors instead of under, otherwise it only keeps the one door from opening." He explained, with a light chuckle.

"I apologize my lord, it was feeling a bit hard to breathe in there." She murmured, shifting her eyes to her fidgeting fingers as she spoke. Loki took a step closer to her, while she fought the urge to take a step back, if he was to be her husband she would have to get used to being near him anyways, right?

He unexpectedly grabbed her hands, gently, halting her fidgeting fingers. She froze at his touch, her eyes darting up to meet his only for a moment, searching them for a sign of what he was trying to convey, because she highly doubted it was just for the sake of tenderness. After a long moment, his eyes narrowed, he placed her arms to the sides of her body, and raised one of his hands to her chin, holding it so that she could not look away from him. "Why is it that you have so much trouble looking me in the eye." He appeared to be talking to himself, she was unsure if she should answer or not, but after another long moment of her looking at him expectantly she spoke.

"I don't mean any disrespect my lord, my mind wanders sometimes, I apolo-" Loki let go of her chin and threw his head back, a loud laugh escaping his throat, stopping her mid sentence. "Did I say something funny, my lord?" She asked, softly though in her mind it was a far more sarcastic comment.

"I think you forget dear Esther that we have known each other since childhood, whatever happened to that sharp tongue you used to have?" He asked with a daring raise of his eyebrows.

She would not play his game, at first he might find her harsh words fun, but then she would say something to anger him, and she wasn't in the mood to deal with his temper, especially not right then. "Yes, well, as you said I was a child, I spoke brash words loosely, and I learned from my foolishness." Esther retorted stiffly.

"I see, so you're saying you've changed?" He questioned, and a corner of his mouth turned up when she nodded, again not looking at him, but instead at the ground floor below the balcony. "I think that you're a liar, and I think you've just been beaten into controlling your tongue. Speaking of beatings, how is your father."

_Do not get sucked into his games,_ she reprimanded herself. "Did you not meet with my father just last week to arrange this engagement? I'm quite sure you've seen him more than I have as of recently so why don't you tell me." She hissed, as hard as she tried to control herself, bringing up her fathers abusive tendencies was a low blow, even for him.

"I'm sorry we've kept you here, but we couldn't have you showing up at the wedding with a black eye now could we?" He just had to continue to poke the bear.

"You know nothing of my father, or my family." She began, her entire body shaking with anger.

He scoffed, "I know enough." stepping behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her against him he whispered softly. "Why do you think I chose you?"

She took a deep breath as a tear slipped down her cheek. "So what?" She uttered, hoarsely, "You took pity on me? Did you expect me to be grateful for your great sacrifice." Her voice got louder, and a corner of her brain reminded her there was party behind those doors, she turned around to face him, and almost lost her strength she had mustered, when she saw how close he was, but she continued anyway. "I don't need a knight in rusty armour. You are not all that you think you are Loki." She hissed, and would have regretted her words, if she wasn't so stubborn, as his face contorted with anger. Despite his rage she continued. "I would prefer to be trapped in that life than to be trapped in this one." before he could reply she pushed passed him back into the hall.

It was unlikely that he would confront her again that night, at least not publicly.

_**-;-**_

_**Okay so that was the first chapter, hopefully the next one will be better, and longer, let me know what you think in the reveiws...good, bad or evil? Thanks for reading!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter Two**_

It had been three days since the engagement party, and three days since Esther had spoken to, or even seen Loki. As disconcerting as his disappearance was, she was glad to have a break from her overbearing husband-to-be. She assumed he was still angry over their fight on the balcony, and hoped he wouldn't visit her until he had calmed down. However, disappearing for days on end every time they had a fight would probably get tiring eventually.

She decided not to think about it, and instead spend her time exploring her new home. Of course her mind still wandered to Loki, where he was, and if she had crossed a line that night. Everytime she asked that question she shook her head, he had crossed a far worse line before she had said anything, what was she supposed to do, just allow him to mistreat her in whatever way he pleased. Esther refused to just let him walk all over her, and there was nothing wrong with that.

She ended up spending most her time in the library, it was quiet, and for the most part it was empty, avoiding people was like a new hobby of hers. It wasn't that she didn't like the people, most of them were very polite and she could not dream of better company. Unfortunately, their conversation topics could use some work. If she had to hear; 'Loki is a fine man' one more time she was going to hit someone. Couldn't they at least be honest with her? Loki was a deceitful boy without a clue on how he should treat a wife.

"Can I help you with something, or are you content to just stand in the doorway and stare?" She asked sardonically, not looking up from the pages of her book, she didn't need to look to know it was Loki, his presence was like a large weight on her shoulders that could not be mistaken for anyone else. She wished there was some sort of trapdoor in the wall she was sitting near, she settled for scooting back the extra inch, so that was one more inch between her and the young prince. Unfortunately it made very little difference.

Loki shrugged, stepping into the library, letting the door swing shut behind him with a large, resounding sound. He didn't speak at first, and the ongoing silence forced her to look at him. Finding he was casually scanning the books on the shelf as he moved towards her.

She sighted, letting her eyes return to the book in her hands, however she was too agitated to actually read, so instead she settled for keeping her nose buried in it before speaking. "You disappeared for a while, I had begun to think something bad had happened to you." The corners of her lips quirked up in a funny sort of smile despite her efforts not to.

"Would that have made you happy?" He questioned, finally looking away from the books and down at Esther a dark tint to his gaze, it was clear he had not completely let go of the balcony incident, but he had yet to attack her, she took that as a good sign. Of course Loki was never one to just outright attack you, no any attack by Loki was subtle, you probably wouldn't even know it was happening until it was over. That's what made her so uneasy around him, that's what made anyone with a brain in their head uneasy around him. Almost every word out of his mouth was a trap, so she answered his question carefully.

"Perhaps, I suppose it would depend on what happened…" Esther trailed off, looking up at him for only a moment before she shut her book, lifting herself up off of the floor. "I should probably retire, after all tomorrow is a big day." She still was smiling as she spoke, but it did not reach her eyes.

His hand caught her arm before she could walk passed him, an exasperated sigh fell from her lips. "What now?" she asked, her entire form finally faltering in keeping her optimistic personality forefront.

Loki's eyes found hers and he opened and closed his mouth a few times before speaking, gaining at least some curiosity from Esther. "You know that when I chose to marry you I did not mean for it to be some sort of punishment." He seethed, before taking a deep breath and speaking again, calmly, with determination. "I will be as good a husband as I can be to you." His voice held a sincerity that she hadn't heard before.

She stared at him for a long moment, wondering, for just a second if maybe he really could make a good husband. She shook the thought from her mind, as well as the hand on her arm, and continued out the door without a word.

**-;-**

Loki stood on the balcony staring out at the sky. He found after three hours of tossing and turning in his bed that he was not going to be able to sleep. The next morning Esther's parents would be there, for the wedding that wasn't taking place for another week. It seemed irrational for them to come so early, but in most cases they would have brought the bride with them, and she wouldn't already have been there.

He couldn't stand the sight of her parents. Her mother worked in the palace so much of the time they would play together as children, and when he saw her parents all he could think of was they day that he found Esther hiding in a small crawl space crying. They were probably twelve years old, it had taken him two hours just to get her to look at him, never mind speaking to him. She had a large purple bruise on the right side of her face, and when he looked at it in absolute horror, she broke into another fit of tears.

They didn't speak much after that day, and when they did it was mostly just formal necessities. The girl seemed to despise him for a reason he couldn't place, and of course he despised her for hating him without a good reason to.

One of the doors behind him and he turned around to find Esther standing behind him. "Um...sorry I didn't know anyone else was out here." she bit her lip uncomfortably, she seemed about to turn around before he spoke.

"The balcony does accommodate to more than one person." he began, giving her a slightly arrogant smirk.

Getting just an eye roll and a frustrated sigh from the girl, he thought perhaps another approach would be better. "Could you not sleep either?" He questioned, and once again she heard that sincerity in his voice.

She just shook her head, coming out of the doorway onto the balcony. "I've been thinking too much…" her voice trailed off as she leaned against the stone railing, leaning almost the entire upper half of her body over the edge.

"Not of jumping I hope," he grinned, but his hands twitched like he was ready to pull her back up if she did.

Esther smiled, letting out a breath of air she shook her head. "No, fortunately for you one of my biggest strengths is my ability to keep living."

"That's one thing we have in common."

"Is that the only thing?" Esther asked with a hopeless expression.

He gave her disappointed look. "Of course not," he thought for a moment, "We're both have older siblings, we're both awake right now because we think too much…" he took another moment before looking straight at her, "Neither of us believe in love."

A frown creased her forehead. "Then why are we doing this?" she questioned, "If we both know what a rouse it alls is why are we getting married."

He shrugged. "If I'm going to marry someone it's not going to be a fool who is awaiting my transformation into a knight in shining armour."

"Perhaps that would be better for you, they say when you marry someone it's supposed to make you the best version of yourself. I only foresee us pushing each other down a tunnel of misery for the rest of our lives."

Loki chuckled at that turning to her with a wide grin. "You may just be one of the only people of Asgard more cynical than myself. Perhaps you should get some rest before you start writing poetry."

She was about to say something when Thor burst through the doors. "I've been looking everywhere for you!" He told Loki with a grim look. "Come with me."

**-;-**

**Sorry I was so slow about the updating, I've been busy failing classes and getting sick, anywho I hope you liked this chapter! Thanks for reading, please let me know what you think!**


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